Reply #6: The part of the story they're not reporting, Maddy, is that Cheney

[saltpoint]

mistakenly believed the guy was a LIBERAL and he called in an air strike, feeling that the buckshot might not be enough. The veep was opting for the shock-and-awe approach, since it worked so well in Iraq.

Then his gun inadvertendly went off when he set it against a tree to call in the air strike, wounding the Austin millionaire. This naturally changed the course of events and so the air strike was miraculously averted.